Harbor Park

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HARBOR PARK - PAGE 2

British rock musician Peter Murphy has toured the States many times, but he's still learning about Americans. Take the Yanks' affection for baseball. "We have it in England, and I've played it," Murphy said. "We call it rounders." But on this side of the Atlantic, the game transcends childhood fun. "Here, it's become a national institution of legendary proportions." Today, Murphy will receive a close encounter with the traditional - if beleaguered - national pastime. Murphy's show at Harbor Park - also to include performances by singer-songwriter Jewel and a local performer - will immediately precede a battle between the Norfolk Tides and the Toledo Mud Hens.

The U.S. Navy knows better than to underestimate an opponent. That's why Jeff Dudukovich, who plays second base and manages the Navy baseball team that will play the Colorado Silver Bullets in an exhibition at Harbor Park at 1:15 p.m. today, is taking the game seriously. The Navy team - members of Dudukovich's team from the U.S.S. Enterprise, augmented by other top Navy players in the Tidewater area - defeated the Silver Bullets 5-0 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., one week ago. Despite the shutout victory, Dudukovich came away impressed with the all-female professional team, which he says is far better than the opponents his team plays against in their adult men's league.

Call it the terrible twos. The Colorado Silver Bullets are 2 1/2 years old, and their continuing growth has not come without growing pains. The Silver Bullets, the barnstorming professional women's baseball team, played at Harbor Park on Thursday night and lost to the Australian Olympic team 20-0. The loss, against the best team the Silver Bullets will face this summer, reflects something of an improvement over their 19-0 loss to the same Australian team in Melbourne, Fla. At Harbor Park the Silver Bullets managed six hits including a double, as opposed to one bloop single in the 19-0 loss.

For guys like Gabe Hillegas, a Hampton High class valedictorian who will concentrate on academics in college, Saturday's American Legion Baseball All- Star game between the Peninsula-area Third District and the Southside-area Second District offered a last chance to live out a fantasy. "It's a pretty big deal to play in a park like this because as a kid I always wanted to be a professional ballplayer, " Hillegas said of Harbor Park. "Now my goal is to become a doctor, but it's kind of a privilege to play on a field like this, especially since it might be my last game."

After enduring a game-long smattering of "raspberries" from Tides fans in leftfield, Darryl Strawberry said goodbye to Norfolk. But the Norfolk Tides refused to allow Strawberry and the Columbus Clippers to leave Harbor Park with a sweep, downing the Clippers 3-2 before a crowd of 10,160 fans. Strawberry went 2-for-3 with an RBI and walked once. For the three-game series, Strawberry went 4-for-11, including two home runs with four RBIs. Yet, Strawberry will be remembered for what he didn't do late in the game on Wednesday night.

Last season, New York Mets center fielder Jay Payton discovered that everything he'd heard about "the other side" was wrong. The grass was greener on the other side ... and he was finally there to stand on it. March 29. It was Opening Day of the 2000 season, and the Mets were starting their season in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs. Payton didn't start that day, and the Mets lost 5-3, but he may have been the happiest benchwarmer in the entire land of the Rising Sun. After seven years of career-threatening operations, Payton had made his way onto the Mets' Opening Day roster.

It started so simple. Ex-Norfolk Tide and current New York Met Benny Agbayani and his fiance, Neila Guigui, would get married during the three-day All-Star break before a justice of the peace in Washington, D.C. You couldn't get more simple. And it was perfect for Guigui, who, she says, hates being the center of attention. So how is it that this little, basic wedding saw its guest list grow to more than 12,000? "This wedding," laughed Tides president Ken Young, "has taken on an identity of its own."

Clint Hurdle is standing outside the batting cage at Harbor Park, talking about players going up to the majors. When he speaks about his players, the ones he manages for the Norfolk Tides, going up to the New York Mets, his voice booms so that anyone in the park at 5 p.m. on this game day will hear his words. Part of that is pride, and perhaps part is because he wants his players to hear what he has to say. "I don't worry about how many players we've sent up to New York," he says loudly.

Welcome to Christian Anderson's nightmare. It's full of terrifying characters, unsettling images and sudden shocks. He hopes you enjoy it so much that you'll come back and bring friends. Anderson, a Hampton native, makes his living creating giant fiberglass sculptures for theme parks across the country. His trademark pieces are for Halloween displays. And after helping to create some of the nation's biggest and most popular "haunted houses," for the first time he has done a full-scale show in Hampton Roads -- Haunted Harbor Park, at the minor- league baseball stadium in Norfolk, which opened last week and will run through Halloween.

The Charlotte Knights shut out the Norfolk Tides 5-0 in a series opener at wet Harbor Park. Chris Tillman took the loss. Three Knights combined to pitch a six-hitter, handing Norfolk its second shutout defeat in a row. After Tuesday's scheduled doubleheader was rained out, the teams wanted to play a pair the next night. But because of rain, they elected to play one nine-inning game instead. They'll try Thursday for two seven-inning games. Justin Greene led Charlotte's offense with a solo home run and two doubles, while Ozzie Martinez added a pair of RBI singles.